The Royal Air Force - A Personal Experience (Hardcover)

In January 1939, 18-year old Peter le Cheminant entered the RAF College at Cranwell at the start of what was to be a 41-year career in the Royal Air Force and was to culminate in him reaching the very highest echelons of the military structure both in Britain and NATO. Following his retirement from the RAF - having failed to reach the rank of Chief of Air Staff (which, ironically, would have precluded him from taking the later post) - he became the first native Guernseyman to hold the position of Lieutenant-Governor in peacetime for more than 600 years. During his career with the RAF, the author experienced combat during World War 2 - including active service as part of the invasion of North Africa in 1942 (Operation Torch) - before becoming one of the most influential of RAF senior officers in the postwar years. Holding senior positions in Britain as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, and with NATO as Deputy C-in-C Allied Forces Central Europe, Sir Peter was at the forefront of the debates - which grew increasingly political - about Britain's defensive capabilities and role in the late 1960s and 1970s. This was the era when the Labour Government under Harold Wilson was radically changing - and reducing - Britain's defensive capabilities and when, later on, the role of the RAF as part of Britain's independent nuclear force was under attack. In The Royal Air Force: A Personal Experience Sir Peter le Cheminant breaks his silence and reveals much of the background to Britain's defence policy as it emerged during the period. Primarily an account of 41 years within the Royal Air Force from the author's standpoint, the book also stands testament to the changing role of the RAF during the period.